WORLD BASEBALL TODAY



WORLD BASEBALL TODAY

Sunday, January 11, 2009

A’S SIGN WORKING AGREEMENT WITH JAPANESE TEAM

The Oakland Athletics have signed into a partnership with the Rakuten Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League in time for the 2009 season. The A’s and Eagles will pool resources for baseball operations and management, including the sharing of information regarding player development and data analysis. The two teams will also exchange baseball operations staffs, including coaches, conditioning specialists and trainers.

Oakland general manager Billy Beane said the partnership marks “an exciting new opportunity for the Oakland Athletics. Without question, both organizations will benefit from this agreement.” Eagles owner Toru Shimada replied in kind, saying “The Athletics are very famous for using their own measurement to evaluate players and create a winning organization. Our goal is very similar.”

ORIOLES INK UEHARA TO $10 MILLION DEAL

The Baltimore Orioles have come to terms with Japanese right-handed pitcher Koji Uehara on a two-year contract for $10 million with incentives, according to the Baltimore Sun.

The 33-year-old Uehara filed for free agency after the 2008 season, his tenth with the Central League’s Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo. In his Japanese career, Uehara was 112-62 with 33 saves and a 3.01 ERA for the Giants. The Baltimore paper says the Orioles “not only want Uehara in the starting rotation, but are penciling him in as their number two starter behind Jeremy Guthrie.”

PARK SIGNS CONTRACT WITH PHILLIES

After facing the Philadelphia Phillies as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year’s National League Championship Series, veteran Korean pitcher Park Chan-ho signed a one-year contract with the world champions last week for $2.5 million. Park appeared in four games for the Dodgers last fall in their five-game NLCS loss to the Phils.

After pitching out of the Dodgers’ bullpen last year, Park will compete for a slot in Philadelphia’s starting rotation this season. The 35-year-old righty certainly hopes to start in 2009, saying “Starting is better and more fun. Every five days, people in Korea plan on watching the game.”

Park has pitched 15 seasons in the majors, with a 117-92 record and a 4.34 ERA. He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1994, and averaged 15 wins a season for Los Angeles between 1997 and 2001. He was 4-4 for the Dodgers in 2008. He will report to the Phillies’ training camp in Clearwater, Florida on February 14.

WBC TEAMS TO PLAY MLB EXHIBITION GAMES

No less than eleven national teams will play exhibition games against Major League Baseball clubs in early March as they prepare for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. A total of 32 such games are scheduled between March 3 and March 6.

Team USA will face the New York Yankees on March 3 in Tampa, followed by a March 4 tilt with Toronto in Dunedin and a contest with World Series champion Philadelphia in Clearwater on March 5.

MEXPAC SEMIFINAL FIELD SET

The final four teams are ready to square off in the Mexican Pacific League semifinals after three first round series were wrapped up last week. Opening set winners Mazatlan, Los Mochis and Hermosillo will be joined by “lucky loser” Guasave in the semis.

Mazatlan wrapped up their series with defending champion Obregon last Tuesday by topping the Yaquis, 6-5. Freddy Sandoval crushed a three-run homer during a six-run eighth inning for the Venados, who won the series, 4 games to 1.

Mochis and Hermosillo wrapped up their respective 4-2 series wins Thursday night. Mochis shut out Caribbean Series host Mexicali, 4-0, as Rafael Diaz spun a six-hitter with seven strikeout for the Caneros; while the Naranjeros topped Guasave, 6-4, behind Jose Luis Sandoval’s three-run homer. Guasave earned the nod over Mexicali for the last berth by virtue of a better runs differential against Hermosillo than the Aguilas had against Mochis.

TIGHT RACE IN DOMINICAN ROUND ROBIN

Midway through the opening round-robin playoff among four Dominican League teams, the Cibao Gigantes and Licey Tigres have pulled ahead in the race for the two berths in the LiDom finals. Cibao defeated the Este Azucareros, 4-1, Thursday night to lift their record to 7-3 in the first round. Kendry Morales was one triple shy of hitting for the cycle for the Gigantes as Cibao won their third straight postseason contest. The Azucareros fell to 5-6 in the playoffs.

Licey kept pace by swamping Cibaenas, 16-2 on Thursday as the Tigres’ Timo Perez DID hit for the cycle while Erick Aybar drove in four runs to raise Licey’s playoff record to 6-4. the loss dropped Cibaenas to 2-7. The four Dominican teams will play each other five times, with the top two finishers meeting in the Dominican Series later this month.

LARA TAKES COMMAND IN VENEZUELAN POSTSEASON

Robert Perez cracked a homer, scored twice and drove in three runs to lead the Lara Cardenales to an 11-6 win over the Caracas Leones Thursday night in Venezuelan League playoff action. The win gave Lara a 6-2 playoff record, 2.5 games ahead of the Leones and Aragua, who are both 3-3 in the five-team round robin.

Aragua needed extra innings Thursday night to finally beat Zulia, 3-2. Tigres infielder Martin Prado scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th as reliever Johan Pino turned in two scoreless frames for Aragua. Alberto Callaspo accounted for both Zulia runs with a two-run homer as the Aguilas fell to 2-3. La Guaira is also 2-3 after dropping a 4-1 decision to Caracas on Wednesday night.

PUERTO RICAN REGULAR SEASON ENDS, PLAYOFFS NEXT

The Ponce Leones cruised to the Puerto Rico Baseball League’s regular season title with a 27-15 record, and are the top seed heading into the four-team playoffs. Arecibo finished second at 22-18, while Santurce took third with a 19-22 mark. Mayaguez and Caguas were tied for fourth at 19-23, and the Indios had to beat the Criollos, 6-0, in a tiebreaker Wednesday night to give Mayaguez the fourth and final slot. Starter Tobi Stoner combined with two relievers for the shutout and Lorenzo Scott drilled a two-run homer.

Arecibo’s Jorge Padilla was named the Most Valuable Player after batting .317 with a league-leading 10 homers and 44 RBIs, while Ponce’s Dillon Gee was voted Best Pitcher after going 4-0 with a 2.22 ERA. Ponce’s Eduardo Perez was named Manager of the Year.

VILLA CLARA STILL TOPS IN CUBA

Villa Clara became the first Cuban National Series team to reach 20 wins last Sunday by sweeping Camaguey in a doubleheader. Closer Yolexis Ulacia picked up his eighth save of the season as Villa Clara improved to 20-4, the best in Cuban baseball while adding to their commanding lead in the CNS Oriental Division.

In the Occidental Division, La Habana is in sole possession of first place with a 16-8 record after splitting a twinbill with second place Industriales last Sunday. Industriales scored nine runs, including three homers, in the eighth inning of last Sunday’s nightcap to lift their ledger to 14-12 on the season.

TIJUANA JOINS USA-BASED INDEPENDENT LEAGUE

After Tijuana lost their Mexican League franchise to Reynosa for 2009, the independent Golden Baseball League has stepped in with a new team to fill the pro baseball void in the Baja California border city.

A letter of intent filed between the GBL and a group of potential owners gives the latter the ability to finalize business and operations requirements with government officials and potential sponsors for the new franchise, whose ownership and team name will be formally announced in the near future.

The Mexican League disbanded the problem-plagued Tijuana Potros after last season and relocated the franchise to Reynosa. Tijuana is about 1,000 miles away from the nearest Liga team. The California-based Golden League, which has eyed the Tijuana market for some time, will become the first professional league to field teams in three countries in 2009.

TUCSON HOPES TO LAND JAPANESE TEAM FOR SPRING TRAINING

With the departure of the Chicago White Sox to a new complex in the Phoenix area, Tucson is down to just two major league teams calling the Arizona city “home” for spring training: The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies, who may be forced to join the exodus to the Phoenix area to lessen travel costs. Add the offseason move of their city’s Pacific Coast League franchise to Reno, and it hasn’t been a good year for baseball fans in Tucson. However, help may be on the way…from Japan.

Former big league third baseman Mike Pagliarulo is heading a firm in discussion with local representatives to lure a Japanese team to Tucson to play a 13-to-15 game Cactus League schedule next year at Tucson Electric Park. The Baseball Group would also form a minor league team to replace the departed Sidewinders as well as an Arizona Fall League club in Tucson, and operate a year-round training program for youth and amateur players.

Pagliarulo’s firm has not announced which Japanese team would be recruited to Tucson. The Yakult Swallows trained in Yuma, Arizona from 1969 through 2000.

TAIWANESE LEAGUE HOLDS DISPERSAL DRAFT

The Chinese Professional Baseball League recently held an allocation draft of players from the disbanded Chinatrust Whales and dMedia T-Rex franchises among the Taiwanese league’s four remaining teams. Picking first, the Sinon Bulls took former dMedia slugger Hsieh Chia-Hsien, who was second in the league with 17 homers last year. The Brother Elephants snapped up ex-Chinatrust ace Ni Fu-Te, who led the circuit with 132 strikeouts in 2008. The La New Bears took Chan Chih-Yao with the third pick, while the President Lions selected Chu Wei-Ming at number four. In all, 18 CPBL veterans were selected in the draft.

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